Blistering interviews Tomas Haake of Meshuggah: http://www.blistering.com/fastpage/fpengine.php/link/1/templateid/9348/tempidx/5/menuid/3
Daily Vault gives a mediocre review to the latest Turbonegro: http://www.dailyvault.com/2005_05_19-ch.html
Swedish musical pranksters 50 Hertz have unveiled a new website design today on occasion of them releasing a new 6-track EP entitled "Music intended for the occasion of killing your son". They say that the EP contains the song "Intergrill" which is being billed as one of Sweden's "largest indieeurodsico falafelsong", whatever that means. Oh, and it features Emma Bates from the Light Bulb Project, too. Go get it: http://www.50hertz.tk/
Speaking of 50 Hertz, the Guardian doesn't recommend the Björk "Army of me" remix album very much, but they like 50 Hertz: http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/fridayreview/story/0,,1472332,00.html
New North American tourdates for Nicolai Dunger:
07/08 - Winnipeg Folk Festival, Winnipeg, MB (solo)
07/09 - Winnipeg Folk Festival, Winnipeg, MB (solo)
07/10 - 400 Bar, Minneapolis, MN
07/11 - Hi Noon Saloon, Madison, WI
07/12 - Schuba¹s, Chicago, IL
07/13 - Kraftbrau, Kalamazoo, MI
07/14 - The Horseshoe, Toronto, ON
07/15 - tba, Montreal, QC
07/16 - Iron Horse, Northampton, MA
07/17 - Joe¹s Pub, New York, NY (2 shows)
07/19 - Echo, Los Angeles, CA (solo)
07/20 - Swedish American Hall, San Francisco, CA (solo)
07/22 - Doug Fir, Portland, OR (solo)
07/23 - Tractor Tavern, Seattle, WA (solo)
All dates with full band unless specified otherwise.
New Scandinavian reviews at High Bias this week include The Mainliners and Wolverine: http://highbias.com/
New mp3 today from Denmark's Lack, one of the best modern hardcore bands I've heard recently. If you haven't already read my review of their latest record "Be there pulse", let me reiterate how great it is to hear a band like this with true passion and energy. I also appreciate the fact that they often let chords hang and breathe, leaving plenty of space for the vocals and rhythm section to do their thing. And they don't overdo the distorted guitar tone either, like so many other bands. I can't tell you how sick I am of that Mesa Dual Rectifier sound. Anyhow, a lot of people are probably bummed that the band abandoned the screamo style they mastered on the debut album "Blues Moderne: Danois Explosifs", but listen up: it's been four years since that record came out. Get over it. The new stuff rules, albeit in a totally different way. Check out the song and go see them when they tour Europe:
05/19 - 1000fryd, Aalborg (DK) w/The Unit
05/20 - May Conspiracy Fest, Nexus, Braunschweig (GER)
05/21 - Bla, Bonn (GER)
05/22 - Le café de la Plage, Paris (FRA)
05/23 - Free Butt, Brighton (UK)
05/24 - The Swan, London (UK)
05/25 - Jabez Glegg, Manchester (UK) w/Eden Maine
05/26 - Trillions, Newcastle (UK) w/Eden Maine
05/27 - Planet, Wolverhampton (UK) w/Eden Maine
05/28 - TJ's, Newport (UK) w/Eden Maine
05/29 - Phoenix, Plymouth (UK) w/Eden Maine
05/30 - Hobbits, Weston Supermare (UK) w/Eden Maine
05/31 - Le Vauban, Brest (FRA) w/Oxes
06/01 - Le Clos Fleuri, Lyon (FRA)
06/02 - La Malterei, Lille (FRA) w/Jairus
06/03 - Astra Stube, Hamborg (GER) w/The Unit
06/04 - Loppen, Copenhagen (DK)w/The Unit
06/10 - Spot-Festival, Aarhus (DK)
06/11 - MOTU-Festival (ICE)
06/25 - tba (GER)
06/26 - tba (GER)
06/28 - Roskilde Festival (DK)
07/17 - Fluff-Fest, Pilsen (CZE)
08/27 - Heartcore Tage, AJZ Bahndamm, Wermelskirchen (GER)
Swedish hip-hop artist Double-O will finally release his debut EP "Soul Supreme Presents Double-O" on May 27. Check out samples here: http://www.otimes2.com/
This week's top 20 Swedish student radio chart:
01. (01) Jenny Wilson - "Let My Shoes Lead Me Forward"
02. (06) Mattias Alkberg BD - "Politix"
03. (04) The Sunshine - "She's My Television"
04. (18) The Hellacopters - "Everything's On TV"
05. (11) Timbuktu - "Det Löser Sig"
06. (05) Queens of the Stone Age - "In my head"
07. (15) Foo Fighters - "Best of you"
08. (07) White Stripes - "Blue orchid"
09. (08) Turbonegro - "High On The Crime"
10. (02) Eels - "Hey Man (Now You´re Really Living)"
11. (NY) Doktor Kosmos - "När Min Pojke Går På Stan"
12. (13) Turin Brakes - "Fishing for a dream"
13. (12) The Fine Arts Showcase - "The Hazel Ridge"
14. (19) Suburban Kids With Biblical Names - "Funeral Face"
15. (NY) Sambassadeur - "New Moon"
16. (NY) Juliette & The Licks - "You´re Speaking My Language"
17. (17) The Lost Patrol - "Golden Times"
18. (NY) Svenska Akademin - "Du Vill Så Du Kan"
19. (16) New Order - "Jetstream"
20. (20) Daft Punk - "Technologic"
Leaving the chart: Hal, Thievery Corporation, The Tough Alliance and Maximo Park.
Splendid reviews the reissue of Efterklang's "Springer" EP: http://www.splendidmagazine.com/review.html?reviewid=1115374021242135
Playlouder reviews the new Turbonegro: http://www.playlouder.com/review/+partyanimals/
I'd hardly call The Darkness "genius", but I totally agree that the joke has been stale for quite awhile now.
Check out a sample of the new Peccatum EP "The moribund people": http://media.theendrecords.com/Peccatum_MoribundPeople_TheMoribundPeople_sample.mp3
In case you were unaware, Peccatum is the musical project of Ihsahn (ex-Emperor) and his wife Ihriel. The new disc comes out July 12 via The End Records.
Nocturnal Rites has entered a studio in their home town of Umeå, Sweden to record a new album and is keeping a web diary of the proceedings: http://www.nocturnalrites.com/record2005/index.htm